Witness denies any kickbacks

Businessman defends dealings with ex-Senate majority leader

Updated 10:13 pm, Thursday, May 8, 2014

Former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, enters the James T. Foley U.S. Courthouse under the watchful eye of his son and attorney Ken Bruno, left, on Thursday May 8, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) ORG XMIT: J=0509_bruno less

Former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, enters the James T. Foley U.S. Courthouse under the watchful eye of his son and attorney Ken Bruno, left, on Thursday May 8, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Skip ... more

Jared Abbruzzese, left, a key witness at the retrial of former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, enters the James T. Foley U.S. Courthouse with his attorney on Thursday May 8, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) ORG XMIT: J=0509_bruno less

Jared Abbruzzese, left, a key witness at the retrial of former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, enters the James T. Foley U.S. Courthouse with his attorney on Thursday May 8, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. ... more

Jared E. Abbruzzese on Thursday emphatically denied making payoffs to former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and said federal prosecutors never even bothered to ask him if he did.

Abbruzzese, the key witness in the corruption retrial of the 85-year-old Bruno in U.S. District Court, staunchly defended his employment of Bruno as a $20,000-a-month consultant. He also defended his $80,000 purchase from Bruno of a horse described as worthless.

Federal prosecutors in Albany contend the payments were bribes or kickbacks made between 2004 and 2006. Bruno attorney E. Stewart Jones wasted no time broaching the topic in his cross-examination.

Jones asked Abbruzzese if any of the consulting payments to Bruno were to buy his influence in government.

"Not a dime!" Abbruzzese testified. "Zero!"

"Did Senator Bruno ever ask you for a dime?"

"No!" Abbruzzese said.

Jones asked Abbruzzese: "Have you ever been asked those questions by the government?"

More Information

In brief

At one point, Bruno attorney E. Stewart Jones objected to Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pericak using another witness' testimony to try to jog Abbruzzese's memory. Chief Judge Gary Sharpe replied: "You can use a piece of toilet paper to refresh someone's recollection!"

Abbruzzese said he hired other consultants, including one in the House of Lords in England.

Abbruzzese also said, "I don't like politicians in general."

"Never in public. Never in private," Abbruzzese answered.

Bruno is charged with two counts of honest services mail fraud in connection with his payments from Abbruzzese.

Under questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pericak, Abbruzzese acknowledged he had become frustrated waiting more than a year for a $250,000 state grant Bruno's office promised to funnel to Evident Technologies, a Troy nanotechnology company in which Abbruzzese had a stake. In December 2003, Bruno did not show up for a scheduled meeting with Abbruzzese to discuss the grant.

But two months later, Abbruzzese and Bruno boarded Abbruzzese's personal plane for a trip to Palm Beach, Fla. On the ride back, Abbruzzese testified, Bruno initiated the conversation about him working as a consultant.

Five days after Bruno and Abbruzzese had agreed on the work arrangement, Bruno ordered Evident to receive the $250,000 grant.

On Thursday, Abbruzzese scoffed at any connection between the two.

"We went down there to play golf, not talk about Evident," he testified. "Evident was not a big thing in my life."

When pressed, Abbruzzese said: "When we took trips, we talked about family, we talked about golf, we talked about having fun. We didn't talk about business."

"That was not by my volition," Abbruzzese replied. "That was something that Senator Bruno brought up on that trip."

Abbruzzese also repeatedly associated the grant for Evident as being funneled through Gov. George Pataki, not Bruno. A news release and documents presented in court showed Bruno had pushed it.

But Abbruzzese insisted: "The commitment that was made to me was from George Pataki."

Abbruzzese boasted that he had known Pataki since the future governor was a Republican assemblyman. He said he spoke to Pataki about Evident at a fundraiser he held at his Loudonville home for former President George W. Bush.